Meaning and Film Techniques in 'the Crucible'

Summary: This essay explores the major themes of the film 'The Crucible' (based on the play by Arthur Miller) and looks closely at how the film techniques contribute to this meaning.

The Crucible explores how authority and individuals interact, in particular, when the authority is corrupt and the individuals are of strong conscience. It presents various ideas about the conflict that must inevitably between these two groups. As director of the film, Hytner needed to use techniques and methods to allow these ideas to be clearly conveyed. Firstly, he had to ensure that three things occurred. Characters needed to be distinguished as representing either authority or conscience. The conflicts that ensued between these two groups needed to be explained and the outcomes of the conflicts related in a way that communicates the intended message. Hytner achieves these through a variety of film techniques including dialogue, costume, setting, characterisation, juxtaposition and camera techniques.

In depicting interactions between the individual and authority, Hytner must first give the responder insight and understanding as to the nature of each character and whether they...